Table 8. Selected cases

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have developed carbon neutral products. Company accounts for a dynamic business model to improve products and processes, in order to reduce its carbon footprint, through the reduction of packaging weight and of water and energy consumption.

The fifth case of proactive ESA corresponded to a cosmetic manufacturing company, which was considered central for this research because its competitors’ influence on the use of natural ingredients and on the development of cruelty free products.

Companies (cases 6th and 7th) that were likely influenced by coercive sources at business context were selected from sectors (i.e. extractive industries and commodities) that are highly regulated. For example, at extractive sector, the public perception of its ecological impact imposes the need for certain social and environmental licensing to operate (Adelman, 1987). The extractive industry is also characterized by low product differentiation and a high level of cohesion and interaction among enterprises, which determines the adoption of stable business models (Bansal, 2000). Under these criteria, two companies from the extractive sector were selected. One of them is a public organization from the Oil & Gas sector (case: Public company focused on oil & gas), while the other one is private and focuses on the use of water resources for power generation and distribution (case: Private multinational company focused on utilities and energy generation).

Table 8. Selected cases

Selected cases Key features

• Public company focused on oil & gas. • Private multinational company focused on utilities and energy generation.

• Cases selected from highly regulated sectors (extractive industries and commodities). • Community perception about ecological impact. • Social licensing to operate exerted by local communities. • Farmers’ Association. • Case selected from an agro-industrial sector which is active in an export market that demands the development of organic products. • Association operates as a business and has leveraged its operation in a cooperative model that allows more than 500 peasant families.

• Bank. • Bank is influenced by a green market focused in green bonds emission and green financing driven by international financial institutions. (Continued)

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Selected cases

• Chemical-product-manufacturing multinational company

• Dairy-product-manufacturing local company

• Cosmetic-product-manufacturing multinational company Key features

• Company influenced by parent company and public concern about product´s toxicity.

• Mimetic pressures exerted a green industry in which early competitors have developed carbon neutral products. • Company under competitors’ influence for the use of natural ingredients and the development of cruelty free products.

In addition to previous mentioned criteria, all the cases were selected according to attributes such as size (being listed in the “Biggest Colombian firms” report5), leadership in their corresponding sector (e.g., market share), ownership (private or publicly owned companies), country of origin (multinational or domestic firms) and industrial sectors (banking, chemical, utilities, energy, agri-business, dairy and cosmetic). The cases were chosen across industries because firms from different sectors face diverse sustainability challenges and are, therefore, influenced by distinctive factors, all of which may result in them taking different approaches in developing and implementing their environmental strategies (Jia, Zuluaga-Cardona, Bailey, & Rueda, 2018).

3.4. Case study protocol

Data collection In collecting data for this study, the author intended to obtain information both broad and deep enough to test the propositions in question and draw conclusions. To this objective, data were collected from multiple sources, including analysis of interviews, public documents and the study of company sustainability reports.

Analysis of public interviews with company managers The author analyzed public interviews with the CEO´s of the companies. These interviews, which were carefully selected, allowed appreciating corporate policies, together with the main individual characteristics of the managers, their

5 https://especiales.semana.com/100-empresas-mas-grandes-de-colombia-2018/index.html

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particular approach to social responsibility, and the environmental initiatives they supported. According to Yin (2010), “relevant data may not be limited to interviews, but can involve the retrieval and examination of reports and documents” (Yin, 2010). These interviews were complemented with reports and public documents, which are explained in the following section.

Sustainability reports Data from published sources, newspaper searches, company accounts, annual reports, and corporate environmental reports were used to provide additional information to that obtained from the interviews with company officers. These sources provide key information because they are prepared for the examination of others (Denzin, 1970). In addition, public data constitute important sources of information in support of fieldwork aimed at evaluating firm capabilities (M. Delmas et al., 2011) and business context (Yin, 2010).

Sustainability reports were chosen as source of public data because they are associated to the perspective of individual participants such as the president of the company or its environmental manager. Their individual stances constitute the primary sources of the environmental strategies of the company. Additionally, sustainability reports are written according to specific guidelines [e.g., Global Reporting Initiative - GRI] that specify the content and quality of the reported information across economic, environmental, and social categories. Moreover, sustainability reports illustrate the environmental strategy and performance of the company and its relations with stakeholders. Besides, they present additional information related to labor practices, human rights, societal and product responsibility (GRI, 2011). For the present research, sustainability reports and public documents became a source of information for the evaluation of firm capabilities, environmental strategy focus and manager profiles.

Content analysis technique “In order to turn qualitative data from public documents into a quantifiable form to allow the testing of the hypothesis, a content analysis technique was carried out. Following Glaser, B.G. & Strauss (1967), all relevant data were coded and systematically classified, analyzed and interpreted.

The reason for choosing a content analysis technique has to do with the particular features of these methods, which are usually objective and systematic in nature. Indeed, they are intended “to increase the understanding